I Know You
by ForeverDreamer12
Summary: (Formally the collection "With You") One day, Natsu leaves the guild leaving only a note behind. Determined to get him back, Lucy, Happy, Erza, and Gray try to find him. When Lucy finds him first, she realizes that he needs a little help in getting back in-tune with himself. Sometimes all it takes are a few encouraging words...


**IMPORTANT: This used to be a oneshot collection called "With You", but due to lack of views/reviews, I've separated each oneshot into separate oneshots.**

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_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**_

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~I Know You~

-A Fairy Tail Oneshot-

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Everything seemed so perfect that morning.

Lucy woke up at her normal time feeling refreshed and excited for the upcoming day. Sunlight streamed through her spotless windows, casting a beautiful glow on the rooms of her house. She made herself a quick breakfast of pancakes soaked in butter with a glass of orange juice, and then headed to the guild. Plue walked by her side, humming to himself.

"Be careful, Lucy! You don't want to fall in!" shouts the boat guy.

"I'll be fine!" Lucy laughs. She turns to Plue, smiling. "I have a feeling that something really big is going to happen today! I'm excited." Plue makes a cute squealing sound in response.

Lucy reaches the guild within a few minutes. She made her way to the front doors, and she pushes them open wide.

"Good morning everyone!" she grins. Everyone in the guild falls silent. Lucy blinks, and finally gets a good look at her guildmates' faces.

Levy looks very worried, and Jet and Droy are attempting to comfort her. Mirajane looks ready to cry. Gray looks mad, Elfman's staring at the wall, and Happy looks like he's holding back tears.

"What is going on here?" Lucy asks. Gajeel, who is sitting by the door, grunts in response.

"You're not gonna like the answer."

Worry floods over Lucy like a storm. She swallows hard, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Poor Lucy..." she hears Macao mutter. "No telling how she's going to take this..."

"It was just so cryptic," replies Wakaba.

"I know..." Macao sighs.

Lucy's heart is pounding. What was so cryptic? Is it some sort of threat?

"Lucy..." Erza says when the girl reaches the bar. "You...should probably see this..."

"See what?" Lucy asks frantically. "What happened? Is someone hurt?"

"No..." Mira says. "No one's hurt, Lucy... At least, not physically..." She passes a scrap of paper to the blond Celestial Wizard, her hands shaking. Lucy takes a deep breath, and unfolds the note.

_'Fairy Tail,_

_I just want you to know that I love you all. You're the best guild there is. But I've gotta go. I can't stay. Stay strong for me._

_Natsu'_

Lucy's brown eyes widen. "No... He...he can't of just...just..." Everyone in the guild looks at her, waiting. Her lip trembles and her hands holding the note start shaking. Tears pool up in her eyes, threatening to spill. Slowly, one falls from her eye and makes its way down her cheek.

And then she loses it. Her body shakes with sobs as she holds the note close to her chest.

"Why?!" she cries. "Why would he just leave like that?! He's risked everything for us! He's been part of the guild for _years_, and he just leaves without saying goodbye?! It's not right!"

She looks up when a hand touches her shoulder. Erza looks deep into the blond's eyes. "We don't know why he left...and you're right, this doesn't seem like the Natsu we know. But...he could have a valid reason..."

"Then why did he leave **ME**?!" wails Happy.

"He can't be serious..." whispers Lucy. "I...I'm going after him!"

"Lucy, you have no idea where he went!" a half-naked Gray protests. "It's ridiculous!"

"I'm still going to try to find him!" Lucy says, determined. "He would go after us if one of us went missing! Remember when I went home? He freaked out!"

Gray and Erza look at each other hesitantly, not sure whether or not they should join this crazy search party. Happy, on the other hand, was all for it.

"Aye! I'm coming with you, Lucy!"

Erza sighs, "Alright. In that case, I'm going."

"WHAT?!" Gray exclaims. The look his teammates give him is dead serious. Gray groans. "Fine..."

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The once peaceful day was washed away by the rain.

It started almost as suddenly as Juvia could change from happy to jealous. This rain, though, was completely natural.

A young man sat on top of a grassy hill overlooking a beautiful town. His scarf seemed to float on top of the breeze. His head was down, but his eyes were looking at the rows of buildings below him.

The rain reminded him of that day...the day he lost her...

_'No.'_ he scolded himself. _'Don't think about her...'_

He ignited a tiny flame in his hand, but it was extinguished quickly by the rain. Things are so easily lost...

He takes a few shaky breaths, trying to calm himself down. Stay...strong...

"NATSU!" a feminine voice pierces the air, full of relief and joy. "You're okay!"

Lucy comes running up the hill, a huge grin on her face. She walks over behind the Dragon Slayer, still smiling.

"C'mon, we're getting you back to the guild." She waits for the pink-haired boy to respond. When he does, it's barely a whisper.

"...No."

"No?!" splutters Lucy. "What do you mean, no?!"

"I mean no," Natsu mumbles.

"Quit being so stubborn!" Lucy says firmly. "Fairy Tail is your home! It's where all your friends are: your family! You can't just leave them! It wouldn't be the same without you! You **are** coming back!"

"I can't, okay?!" Natsu shouts, whirling around to face her. Water drips down his face in little lines, creating streaks on his cheeks. His eyes are full of water, like deep dark pools of despair.

A gasp escapes Lucy's throat when she realizes something horrible...those aren't just raindrops on his face...they're tears...

He's _crying_.

All of Lucy's anger disappears into thin air. "Natsu..."

"Look..." Natsu says weakly. "I...I've lost a lot in my life...and I don't want to lose more... Every time I grow fond of someone, every time I hold someone dear to me...they disappear!" He sounds angry and broken now. His voice is shaking like crazy, and more salty tears blend in with the raindrops. "Whether they leave me by choice or by fate, they still are **gone**! And there's no way to get them back!" He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"That's why I'm leaving... I don't want something terrible to happen to you, Lucy. Or anyone else in the guild for that matter."

Lucy's heart goes out to him. "Oh, Natsu..." Tears of her own fill her brown eyes as she kneels down in the soaked grass next to him. She places a hand on his wet cheek. "It'll be okay... You're not going to lose us like you lost the others... Besides, you are **strong**."

"No..." Natsu mumbles. "I'm pathetic..."

"Shut up!" Lucy shouts, angry again. "Stop this right now! This isn't you, Natsu! At least, not the you I know!"

"Then maybe you don't know me..." he responds.

He lets out a choking sound when Lucy suddenly pulls him close to her in a tight hug. She rests her chin on his shoulder, trying to hold in her own sobs. "I do know you," she whispers. "You are Natsu Dragneel. You're a Fairy Tail wizard. You never give up, never give in. You fight for your friends, not just for the honor of your guild, but because you care. Underneath that façade of a food-loving, loudmouthed idiot is a strong, passionate man. No...a dragon. You are loyal to Fairy Tail until the end..."

She pulls back from him and looks deep into his dark eyes. "So be a dragon, Natsu. But most of all...be a Fairy Tail wizard..."

Natsu looks back at Lucy, his eyes full of hope. "You...you really..." He can barely speak. A light blush tints his cheeks, and he looks ready to cry again. But this time, from happiness.

"NATSU! LUCY!" The voices of the rest of the team echo over the hill. Natsu and Lucy turn around to face them. Right on cue, the sun slowly peeks through the clouds, illuminating the sky once more.

"Jeez, Natsu, you're such an idiot!" Gray huffs.

"You have no idea how much we freaked out!" Erza says angrily. "I feel you should be punished!"

"NATSUUUU-!" Happy cries, and flies right into Natsu's arms.

Lucy watches as the corners of Natsu's mouth slowly turn upward. His eyes sparkle in the light. A huge grin spreads across his face, his joyful mood returning.

And then, Natsu Dragneel laughs.


End file.
